DisplayLink and Windows 10

DisplayLink technology is fully supported on all current versions of Windows 10 (Intel and AMD CPUs). In the summer of 2016, the DisplayLink architecture on Windows 10 was improved. This changes the behaviour and installation methods. The details of this are covered below:

Note: When upgrading to Windows 10 Anniversary Update from a previous version of Windows, you will be notified that the DisplayLink driver will be uninstalled. This is expected, and desired as the driver must also be upgraded (either from Windows update or using the driver from our website) to the new Windows architecture, once the system has upgraded. You can safely ignore the message about compatibility.

What has changed in the Windows 10 DisplayLink driver?

DisplayLink has been working with Microsoft on extending the Windows
graphics architecture to support USB graphics on Windows. A new interface has been designed between Microsoft and DisplayLink for USB displays. This
is available in Windows 10 Anniversary Update 2016 (Redstone) from August 2016. The DisplayLink
software uses the new native DisplayLink USB graphics support on Windows 10 Anniversary Update 2016 onwards to provide a forward compatibility with Windows. There is no
change to Windows 10 Threshold and earlier OS versions. The table summarises the DisplayLink driver compatibility:

V8.0 or later will be installed by Windows Update on Windows 10 Anniversary Update. Running the DisplayLink installer, from the DisplayLink website will also automatically install the appropriate driver for the Windows 10 version you are running.You MUST NOT try to install DisplayLink driver 7.9 on Windows 10 Anniversary Update and newer. Similarly you MUST NOT deploy DisplayLink_Win7-10TH2.msi when you are using a Redstone build. Changes in the Windows driver model can then prevent your computer from booting!

Windows 10
Anniversary Update changes

The following driver differences will be see when using the DisplayLink driver from Windows 10 Anniversary Update 2016

Device Manager

DisplayLink displays appear under "Display Adapters" in Device manager, rather than under "USB Display Adapters":

DisplayLink System Tray Icon

On Windows 10 Anniversary Update 2016, the DisplayLink icon is always present in the Windows system tray (from V8.0 M2). The UI options are currently reduced while support is added to the new driver architecture.

First Connect Behaviour

On Windows
10
Anniversary Update 2016, on first connect, DisplayLink displays are configured by the
Windows OS. The Windows OS behaviour is to: